The stars are aligning in Redmond, analysts suggest, and there's a good chance that Microsoft can lead the tablet race after being smothered by Apple and Android in 2013. Microsoft hasn't been in such a strong position for years.

"The tablet in the enterprise is theirs to lose," says Aberdeen Group analyst Andrew Borg.

Everything from PC refresh cycles to the booming tablet market to trends that put the device-purchasing decision back into IT's hands are turning in favor of Microsoft.

Windows 8 tablets poised to strike

Let's start with the most dramatic, highly anticipated turnaround in technology today, as shown in a Forrester survey conducted late last year: iPads held the vast majority of BYOD tablet deployments, with Android coming on strong and Windows 8-based tablets practically nonexistent. But plans in the next 12 months show Windows 8-based tablets surging from far behind to lead the pack.